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Kazi Nazrul Islam

Kazi Nazrul
Islam (24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976), sobriquet Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet),
known popularly as Nazrul, was a Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who
pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism
and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular
title of Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet). Accomplishing a large body of acclaimed
works through his life, Nazrul is officially recognised as the national poet of
Bangladesh and highly commemorated in India. He also composed the Bangladesh
military march "The Song of Youth", now known as "Chal Chal
Chal".

Born into a
Bengali Muslim Quazi (Kazi) family, Nazrul received religious education and
worked as a muezzin at a local mosque. He learned of poetry, drama, and
literature while working with theatrical groups. After serving in the British
Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Calcutta. He
assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic
works, such as "Bidrohi" ("The Rebel") and "Bhangar
Gaan" ("The Song of Destruction"), as well as his publication
"Dhumketu" ("The Comet"). His impassioned activism in the
Indian independence movement often led to his imprisonment by British
authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the "Rajbandir Jabanbandi"
("Deposition of a Political Prisoner"). Exploring the life and
conditions of the downtrodden masses of India, Nazrul worked for their
emancipation.

Nazrul's
writings explore themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all
bigotry, including religious and gender. Throughout his career, Nazrul wrote
short stories, novels, and essays but is best known for his poems, in which he
pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music
for his nearly 4,000 songs (including gramophone records), collectively
known as Nazrul geeti (Nazrul songs), which are widely popular today. In 1942
at the age of 43 he began suffering from an unknown disease, losing his voice
and memory. It is often said, the reason was slow poisoning by British
Government but later a medical team in Vienna diagnosed the disease as Morbus
Pick, a rare incurable neurodegenerative disease. It caused Nazrul's health
to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation for many years. Invited
by the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul and his family moved to Dhaka in 1972,
where he died four years later.

Honorable National Poet of Bangladesh.

Early Life of Kazi Nazrul Islam:

Kazi Nazrul
Islam was born in the village of Churulia near Asansol in the Burdwan District
of Bengal (now located in the Indian state of Paschimbanga).He was born in a
powerful Muslim Taluqdar family and was the second of three sons and a
daughter, Nazrul's father Kazi Faqeer Ahmed was the imam and caretaker of the
local mosque and mausoleum. Nazrul's mother was Zahida Khatun. Nazrul had two
brothers, Kazi Saahibjaan and Kazi Ali Hussain, and a sister, Umme Kulsum.
Nicknamed Dukhu Mian (Sad Man), Nazrul began attending the maktab & madarsa
; the local religious school run by the mosque & dargah where he studied
the Qur'an and other scriptures, Islamic philosophy and theology. His family
was devastated with the death of his father in 1908. At the young age of ten,
Nazrul began working in his father's place as a caretaker to support his
family, as well as assisting teachers in school. He later became the muezzin at
the mosque, delivering the Azaan and calling the people for prayer.

Attracted
to folk theatre, Nazrul joined a leto (travelling theatrical group) run by his
uncle Fazl e Karim. Working and travelling with them, learning acting, as well
as writing songs and poems for the plays and musicals. Through his work and
experiences, Nazrul began learning Bengali and Sanskrit literature, as well as
Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas. The young poet composed a number of folk
plays for his group, which included "Chashaar Shong" ("The drama
of a peasant"), "Shakunibadh" ("The Killing of Shakuni a
character from the epic Mahabharata"), "Raja Yudhisthirer Shong"
("The drama of King Yudhisthira again from the Mahabharata"),
"Daata Karna" ("Philanthropic Karna from the Mahabharata"),
"Akbar Badshah" ("Emperor Akbar"), "Kavi Kalidas"
("Poet Kalidas"), "Vidyan hutum" ("The Learned
Owl"), and "Rajputrer Shong" ("The drama of a
Prince").

In 1910,
Nazrul left the troupe and enrolled at the Searsole Raj High School in Raniganj
(where he came under influence of teacher, revolutionary and Jugantar activist
Nibaran Chandra Ghatak, and initiated life-long friendship with fellow author
Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay, who was his classmate), and later transferred to the
Mathrun High English School, studying under the headmaster and poet Kumudranjan
Mallik. Unable to continue paying his school fees, Nazrul left the school and
joined a group of kaviyals. Later he took jobs as a cook at the house of a
Christian railway guard and at the most famous bakery of the region
Wahid's/Abdul Wahid and tea stall in the town of Asansol. In 1914, Nazrul
studied in the Darirampur School (now Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University)
in Trishal, Mymensingh District. Amongst other subjects, Nazrul studied
Bengali, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian literature and classical music under
teachers who were impressed by his dedication and skill.

Studying up
to Class X, Nazrul did not appear for the matriculation pre-test examination,
enlisting instead in the Indian Army in 1917 at the age of eighteen. He joined
the British army mainly for two reasons: first, his youthful romantic
inclination to respond to the unknown and, secondly, the call of politics.
Attached to the 49th Bengal Regiment, he was posted to the cantonment in
Karachi, where he wrote his first prose and poetry. Although he never saw
active fighting, he rose in rank from corporal to havildar, and served as
quartermaster for his battalion. During this period, Nazrul read extensively,
and was deeply influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay,
as well as the Persian poets Hafez, Rumi and Omar Khayyam. He learnt Persian
poetry from the regiment's Punjabi moulvi, practiced music and pursued his
literary interests. His first prose work, "Baunduler Atmakahini"
("Life of a Vagabond") was published in May, 1919. His poem
"Mukti" ("Freedom") was published by the "Bangla
Mussalman Sahitya Patrika" ("Bengali Muslim Literary Journal")
in July 1919.